Tag: Jesus Christ

Carole Anne Hallyburton began His Own Heart Ministries as a weekly devotional blog during her days as a graduate student of Christian Education at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary – Charlotte, where she also served as student body president for two years. In addition to her master’s degree from GCTS, Carole Anne holds a bachelor’s degree from UNC-Chapel Hill. She teaches ancient Hebrew language, reviews books for B&H Publishing Group, Paraclete Press and Crossway USA. She additionally serves on the Board of Advisors for Bible Journey, LLC, a producer of online curricula for churches, small groups and individuals.
This blog, as well as the three inductive small-group Bible studies she has written, emerged as parts of Carole Anne’s vision for fostering a deeper level of Biblical literacy among readers. The writer prayerfully aims to bring Scripture to life for others while encouraging solid application for the living out of that Scripture – on Jesus Christ’s terms – within today’s culture. While postings were initially sporadic due to the time constraints of student life, His Own Heart has morphed into a weekly publication. To God be the glory always!
We welcome your inquiries related to His Own Heart Ministries as well as its team. Simply connect with us through the site’s Contact page. I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:19
He said He was.
And then He did.
And here we are.
So there you go.
Welcome – at last – to the new online home of His Own Heart Ministries! God has taken us through a host of new learning and spiritual experiences since our last published post on Mother’s Day, nurturing–yet-stretching us further than we anticipated (and admittedly further than we actually desired to be stretched once or twice).

But as we take this week to introduce you to the site with some fun and games – and a few prizes, too – it is our utmost prayer that you will come to see that God is indeed doing a new thing through His redesign and expansion of His Own Heart Ministries. Please make no mistake, have no fraction of a doubt, that the project you see contained in this website is His and His alone.
On that note – and as you and I stand together here on the threshold of His Own Heart’s new virtual home – would you join me in a prayer of dedication?
Heavenly Father, You are mighty; You are gracious; You are holy. You are worthy. We love You and are so grateful to You for bringing His Own Heart to its new and permanent home on the web. We thank You for every single experience You have allowed us through Your construction of the site, for the friendships that have deepened and the new friends You’ve brought to us along the way, for the myriad of ways You’ve revealed Yourself to us over the course of the building effort. His Own Heart is humbled and honored to serve You; we ask that You use this project to Your specific purpose and to Your specific glory. In agreement with Revelation 4:11, may what You’ve created for Your pleasure indeed bring You pleasure now and forever. We ask this in the beautiful Name of Your Son – our Redeemer – Jesus Christ, Amen.
One of the first things you may have noticed when you came to this site, other than a different look is our new web address: http://HisOwnHeartMinistries.com. We’re in the process, as of this publication, of getting an SSL certificate as an added measure of website security, so in the days ahead the prefix of our address will change from http:// to https://. Additionally, we have a new, secure email address: info@HisOwnHeartMinistries.com.

So then woman hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” Matthew 28:8-10

As we recently celebrate Easter Sunday we remember the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The women after they had gone to the tomb left with great joy knowing that their teacher, friend, and Lord had risen from the dead, and could not wait to share with His disciples what they had learn. As Christians how many of us can not wait to share the Resurrection story with our family and friends, perhaps not many of us. It is okay to talk about at church on a Sunday morning but as followers of Jesus are we doing what he has called us to do and telling others about Him.

For myself, I grew up as a Christian, always going to church on a Sunday and being involved, but can I truly call myself a Christian. Let me take the time with all of my readers to share my own story and why I want to shout to the world that God is Not Dead! He is truly Alive. A couple of years ago as I was searching the scriptures for a sermon that I was going to share, I began to have a dream. I have the same dream more than once and I truly thought that it was only a dream and it never happen to me at all. After I have shared the dream with my oldest daughter she mention to me that I should google it and so I did and what I thought was just a dream, it was something that I did experience and that I witness.

Growing up there was a train that I went on called the Freedom Train, and on that train in all the different cars that I visited was about the history of America. However, except this one car as I followed all the other visitors this particular car had a huge class case that set down on top of something on the floor. This glass case had the Burial Cloth (Shroud of Turin) of Jesus Christ. You can see that this man was very tall perhaps close to six feet, and he also had a beard. On the top of his head you can see that their were some kind of crown that laid there, where their was drops of stain blood going down the face. The nails were not in his hands but the wrist (because the flesh couldn’t hold him up if the nails when through his hands). As I continue to walk slowly I can see that his side was pierced with something. His feet were together with holes through them, because of a huge nail that had gone through both of them. I continue to walk slowly and on his back you can tell that this man was whip many times, (a whipped of leather thongs, which was used in Biblical times, with bits of metal or bone attached) The words from Isaiah 53: 4-5 came to my mind Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his strips we are healed. For whatever reason unknown to myself I somehow forgotten what I had seen until that one day while asking God for directions in sharing a message that I remember. Every time I think of that one day when I saw the Burial Cloth of Christ tears forms in my eyes and down my cheeks, as what is happening as I write down these words. My God, My Lord and My King you did this all for me, I didn’t deserve it, I am a sinner and I am unworthy for Jesus to suffer for me like that. And yet because of His great love for me even before I was ever born he died at Calvary in my place. As I read the words in Ephesians 2:4-5 But because of his great love for us , God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions, it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift from God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For all who have read these words I did see the Burial Cloth of Christ in 1976 here in America

Since God help me to remember what I witness I can never remain silent any more, I must tell anyone that I meet the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The stories in the Bible are not just stories but, real accounts that took place, written by men and inspire by God. It is not an easy journey I am on now being a disciple of Christ, I have had even family members and friends disown me all because of what I believe and I know what is true, and yes I am fine with that. I do hope that someday if not from me the ones who say because of what I believe I am nuts, will come to know Jesus Christ as their own personal Savior and decided to follow him. My Lord would want me to tell others about him, that he overcame death and that the tomb is empty, because My God Is Not Dead, He is Truly Alive,

If those practices work for you, wonderful! Others may want to find different ways of observing this holy season. Consider adopting one or more of the following creative uses of the days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.

Pray for others you see as you walk to and from throughout your day

Volunteer one hour or more each week with a local shelter, tutoring program, nursing home, prison ministry.

Participate in a Lent-a-Day-practice and pray each day with your camera in your hand. start praying

Cultivate a life of gratitude. Write someone a thank you letter each week and be aware of how many people have helped you along life’s journey.

Create a daily quiet time. (this is something I do, I drive my youngest back and forth to school, and when I pick her up I am at her school an hour to spend time alone with God. Read a daily devotional for the season of lent.

Give up soft drinks, fast food, tea, or coffee. Give the money you save to help local folks or those in a different part of the world who are in crisis.

Forgive someone who doesn’t deserve it ( maybe even yourself)

Go deeper into your study in the Bible, be a part of a study group, and meditate on the words “I Am” sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of John

Start a prayer rhythm. Each day of Lent, pray for another person.

Tray and electronic fast, give up tv, face book, tweeting, e-mail and all things electronic for one day each week.

I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. Psalm 57:9-11

The Lord does look at the things people look at. People look at the things at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

Worshipping God is something Christians do each and every Sunday or many of us do it every chance we do get to Praise the Lord. However, are we truly worshipping God is Spirit and in Truth. In the Gospel of John Jesus tells a Samaritan woman that God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. ( John 4:24), but are we doing what we are called to do, or are we just going through the motions. It seems that most Sundays we as Christians are too busy with the fellowship of one another, and at times of the latest gossip that we are not centering ourselves with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And by doing this we never realize that we are short changing our Creator as well as us when we do not worship God in Spirit and Truth.

God is the firm foundation on which you can dance and sing praises and continually celebrate His presence, just as you long to. Most of the time, however, you feel earthbound and weighed down. Worshipping God requires the engagement of your entire being, something you will delight in and yet somehow you may resist.

If you want to learn how to celebrate God more consistently, more abundantly, begin by lingering in God’s peaceful presence. Think of these words from the book of Psalm 46:10, “Be Still and Know That I am God.” As you relax in His everlasting arms, sense how safe and secure you are. God is indeed the rock-solid foundation on which you can live exuberantly. Dancing, singing, and praying are ways you can express your delight in Him.

God’s very presence radiates Joy deep within our soul, unmeasured fullness. When you praise God, your joy increases, as does your awareness of His Holy Presence. Your body may or may not be mightily engaged in this endeavor, but God sees within our heart. This is where the ultimate celebration of God’s presence takes places.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5

People all around the world can testify of their love for Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, they bear witness to their love and faith in Jesus Christ, who died on a cross over two thousand years ago. They are convinced that He is alive today. How is this possible? They never even saw that He is alive today. His earthly ministry lasted about three years and even the reports on that are rather fragmentary.

The secret of His unique attraction does not live in one or other theological formula or religious organization, regardless of how important these things may be in the right context. But He promised to grant His Spirit to everyone who accepts Him and confesses His rule. Through the ages He has kept His promises. He said that His Spirit would live in every person who loves Him and who serves Him. Countless followers of this century believe that this experience with the living Christ is valid and true for our time.

If you want to sit on the sideline, remember that Christ can convert your life. A new, unparalleled strength will take possession of your spirit. It will enable you to do those things that are pleasing to God. This change in your life and this new strength will assure you of Christ’s presence in your life. If you have the Spirit of Christ you will know the reality of His holy presence. Love for Him will radiate your heart and your life.

Through our feelings come and go, God’s love for is does not, by C.S.Lewis

God is the One who made all things, and all things are for his glory. He wanted to have many children share his glory. ( Hebrews 2:10a) (NCV)

In the book of the Purpose Drive Life by Rick Warren he tells us that we were formed for God’s family. God wants a family, and he created you and me to be a part of it. This is God’s second purpose for your life, which he planned before you or me where born. The entire Bible is the story of God building a family who will love him, honor him, and reign with him forever. It says, “His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.” Because God is love, he treasures relationships. His very nature is relational, and he identifies himself, in family terms: Father, Son, and Spirit. The Trinity is God’s relationship to himself. It’s the perfect patter for relational harmony, and we should study its implications.

Isn’t this wonderful to know that we are part of a wonderful family, that in spite of any flaws in us we are simply accept because of God’s great love for ALL of his children. The moment you were spiritually born into God’s family, you were given some astounding birthday gifts, the family name, the family likeness, family privileges, family intimate access, and the family inheritance. The Bible says, “Since you are his child, everything he has belongs to you” (WOW) The New Testament gives great emphasis to our rich “inheritance.” It tells us, “My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Jesus Christ. As children of God we get to share in the family fortune. Here on earth we are given, the riches of his grace, kindness, patience, glory, wisdom, power and mercy. But in eternity we will inherit even more. Your inheritance is worth more than gold or silver, and that my friend is something to celebrate.